BROOKLYN FAMILY THERAPY CENTER

Helping families thrive!
Parents . Young adults. Teens . Children

WELCOME TO THE BROOKLYN FAMILY THERAPY CENTER!

At the center we follow a family approach in working with the client. We view the family as a team that need guidance when coming to us. Therefore, we do not work with the child or adolescent in isolation, but see the parent/s in parental guidance as well.

Eventhough our website is in english, we welcome, and try our best to accommodate clients from all of our 11 official languages!

We have 5 therapist as part of our team and all of them bring an abundance of experience and specialities into the center. The most beautiful member of our team is our therapy dog, Zoë, who showers everyone with love!

One of the first questions clients ask is always: 'what is the cost?'. Eventhough we do not want to put a price tag on our children's emotional wellbeing, we unfortunately live in a costly world. Child/adolescent/parental guidance therapy sessions are R650 per hour. This is a cash practice where fees can be claimed back from medical aid after payment.

"Enter into children's play, and you find the place where their minds, hearts and souls meet".
Virginia Axline

Children up to 3 years

During the first session, a screening will be done with the child. Please note that this is not an in dept assessment and that no report will be written. The child's attachment, experience of playgroup/pre-school, emotional development and energy level will be assessed. A follow-up parental guidance/feedback session must be made, where recommendations regarding follow-up therapeutic intervention and future planning will be made. The therapists working with children in this age group are Inanda (mornings), Salomé (mornings), and Nicolette (Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings). Clients can make an appointment with the relevant therapist based on time availability and therapeutic needs. The intake form must be completed and signed by both parents before an appointment can be made.

Children age 3 to 12 years

We love to start with the child on a clean slate! We do not require any information about the child before the session, as objectivity is very important to us. During the first session, a screening of the child's emotional language, level of energy, attachment, socialization skills and school experience will be done through play. Please not that this is not a socio-emotional assessment and no reports will be written. A follow-up parental guidance/feedback session must be made on a different day as the intake session. Recommendations regarding follow-up therapeutic intervention and future planning will be made with the parents. The intake form must be completed and signed by both parents before an appointment can be made. Therapists working with this age-group are Inanda (mornings), Emile (afternoons), Nicolette (Friday afternoon and Saturday mornings) and Ri'ana (only age 11 upwards).

Tweens, teens and students

Ri'ana Hugo is our specialist therapist working with tweens, teens and young aduls. She will see the child seperate from the parent/s for the first session. A follow-up parental guidance and feedback session can be booked with Ri'ana Hugo as soon as possible after the client's first session. Intake form need to be signed by both parents.

Adults

Ri'ana Hugo provides trauma counseling and deep emotional therapy with adults who experience difficulty in their daily functioning. She has a passion for brain-body connection work.

Play Therapy/ play-based intervention

Play therapy is a method of therapy using the ‘language’ of a child, namely PLAY. This is a non-threatening way for the child to deal with deep issues and inappropriate behaviour. In therapy the child can experiment with new, more appropriate ways of dealing with problems. All of our therapist are well qualified in play-based intervention techniques. Some of the issues we can support with are: -Dealing with loss and trauma -Dealing with seperation / divorce -Social skills development -Bullying -Dealing with big feelings -Highly sensitive children -Anxiety -Sibling rivalry -Problem arising from a personality clash between parent and child -Emotional school readiness -Preparation for new baby -Preparation for medical procedures -Preparation for immigration -Preparation for new school/new grade -Tension regarding gender and much more..

Parenting Therapy

The therapist supports the family to access their strength and capacity to deal with the issues at hand. Using a solution focused approach, she gently guides the parents towards growth and healing. Parenting therapy is provided by Ri'ana Hugo.

Trauma Therapy

Trauma, whether it is a specific event, prolonged trauma or perceived trauma, is part of our lives. The therapists are equipped to support families in dealing with trauma. We believe in helping children and parents to become resilient in dealing with trauma as we cannot prevent it from happening. Somatic work, as well as utilizing music and instruments as therapeutic tools, are some of the methods used in trauma therapy. Trauma therapy is provided by all the therapists depending on the age of the child.

Learn More

Attachment based therapy and interactional analysis

Attachment-based family therapy encourages a cooperative relationship between parents and children. It is a non-threatening way of helping family members trust each other more and repairing relationships. An interactional analysis is usually conducted at the start of attachment based therapy. An interactional analysis is a wonderful tool to discover the communication, power balance and dynamics between the child and parent. An interactional analysis is the process through which the parent-child interaction is observed and evaluated according to a theoretical framework. Inanda Bosman and Ri'ana Hugo are our attachment-based therapists.

Inanda Bosman

Play therapist and social worker

With 23 years experience Inanda has ample knowledge of helping children and parents within the therapeutic context. She is a playtherapist (mastersdegree in play-based intervention from UP) and is the happily married mother of four young boys. She is passionate about helping children to achieve emotional resilience. As Inanda has a child on the autism spectrum, she takes a special interest in children who do not fit into the norm. She's also mom of identical twins and understand the dynamics of raising twins.

Ri'ana Hugo

Therapist and social worker

Ri'ana is passionate about helping families heal through solution focused therapy, trauma work and building resilience and connection between parent and child. She has 25 years experience supporting families. She is married with three teens who challenges her daily to be present in this messy parenting journey.

Nicolette Pretorius

Social worker specializing in play-based intervention

The emotional well-being of children is one of the things that Nicolette is passionate about. She has been working as a social worker specializing in play-based intervention for the past 21 years and has 25 years experience of supporting families and children. She is happily married with two daughters at University. She specially enjoys empowering children to deal with difficult real-life situations through the medium of play.

Salome van Wyk

Play-based intervention counsellor

Salome started her career in education with a BEd Hons degree, but soon realized that she has a passion for counselling rather than educating children. After obtaining her Master (Psych) degree she's been supporting children and parents through play-therapy intervention work. She has a passion to help children flourish on different levels of their day to day functioning. Salome is the mother of two beautiful girls.

Emile Struwig

Social worker specializing in play based intervention

Emile is committed to enhancing children's and families' emotional and social well-being through targeted interventions that promote resilience. His professional services include counselling for children, behavioral and emotional support, developing coping strategies for children and assistance with social and emotional challenges. Emile feels passionate about addressing family dynamics comprehensively by focusing on all family members' well-being.

Yolandé Kersop

Admin

Yolandé is the mother of 3 children and is guru of anything admin. She keeps the therapists in check, and makes sure that everything runs smoothly.

Zoë

Our therapy dog

Zoë is our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who assist us in our work with clients. Animal assistant therapy is an amazing tool in helping children, adolescent and even parents feel at ease and talk about deep emotions. Even though she is part of our team we respect it if the child is not comfortable with her.

480 Alexander Street, Brooklyn, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa